After Midnight
by Sam-chan3
Summary: Cecile raises a panic in the castle when she spots an intruder. Thomas is forced to run around in his nightgown. Cuteness ensues.


After Midnight  
By Samantha Label  
email: webmistress@prettyodango.net  
© Samantha Label 2002

**Notes:** I chose Hugo as the Flame Champion's successor in my game. Therefore Hugo lives in the nice bedroom in the castle, and Chris and Geddoe live in rooms on the wrecked ship--rooms that happen to be directly below Thomas' room (he lives on the ship after he relinquishes his master bedroom to the Flame Champion). Also, I don't remember Thomas' ship room having a bed, but I'm willing to overlook that if you are. ^^  
  
Enjoy the story!

=========

"Master Thomas, Master Thomas!"  
  
Was he dreaming? Thomas could feel the soft, warm comfort of his bed surrounding him, but why was Cecile shouting at him? _She's not here. Must be a dream,_ he thought to himself, not quite aware that thinking it was a dream probably meant it wasn't. _Sleep._  
  
"Thomas! WAKE UP!" This time Cecile's voice was much closer, and accompanied by all sorts of frightful clanging and thumping. _Oh, gracious, another attack on the castle!_ That alarming thought jolted him out of slumber.  
  
Upon opening his eyes Thomas was greeted not with the sight of fire outside his small porthole window, not with the sounds of clashing swords, but with Cecile, dutifully stomping around his room, her armor clattering and her spear loudly banging on the wooden floor with each step. She noticed his open eyes and rushed to his side, a concerned look on her young face.  
  
"Thomas! You're awake! Are you hurt? Is everything okay?"  
  
"Hurt?" He had no idea what Cecile was talking about--in fact, the only thing he could comprehend at the moment was the huge racket Cecile was making, and that Chris and Geddoe, sleeping on the deck below, would probably be furious with him come morning. Thomas sighed. He felt a long night coming on. "What's going on?"  
  
Cecile, greatly agitated, took a few moments to catch her breath and collect her thoughts. Then, in one long exhalation, she let Thomas know what was on her mind: _"IwaskeepingwatchandsawashadowmovingtowardthecastlesoIcametocheckonyoudidyouseeanything?!"_  
  
Thomas slowly sorted through what she had said. "What? No." The relief he had felt moments before from _not_ seeing Harmonian soldiers in his room, ready to lop off his head, was dissipating fast. "You mean there's an _intruder_?"  
  
She nodded eagerly.  
  
"Did you check on Hugo?"  
  
The color drained from Cecile's face.  
  
The next several minutes, to Thomas, were a blur. He heard Cecile blurt out "Ohmigosh I'm an IDIOT!" as she bolted out the door, noisier than ever, bellowing "SIR HUGO!!!" over and over at the top of her lungs. He felt himself jump out of bed and run outside after her, partly to help her protect their leader, and partly--mostly--to keep her from waking the entire castle.  
  
The two of them dashed down the plank into the castle basement, up the stairs, down the hall--Cecile plowing through a very surprised Duck--and pounded urgently on the heavy door of Hugo's master bedroom.  
  
Cecile was frantic. "What if he's been _kidnapped_?"  
  
"He's an adult; no one's going to simply abduct him. But he may be in trouble."  
  
"Who's in trouble?" A bleary-eyed Hugo had just opened the door.  
  
Cecile barged past him into the room and proceeded to check under the bed, in the cabinets and drawers, and to menacingly poke with her spear any suspicious bulges in the drapes. Her inspection finished, she sighed in relief. "It's okay, Sir Hugo, your room is officially secure!"  
  
Hugo brushed off Thomas--who was profusely apologizing for Cecile knocking Hugo senseless to the floor--and turned to Cecile with an understandable expression of confusion on his face. "That's good, but what's going on? Why the late-night search?"  
  
"That's what I'd like to know," a voice said from the doorway. Sergeant Joe, Lucia, Chris and Geddoe approached, all in robes and all looking disgruntled, especially, to Thomas' dismay, Lady Chris. He looked down at himself, and groaned inwardly at his wrinkled pajamas and mussed hair. He could feel several pairs of eyes on him, and could now hear plenty of sleepy voices coming closer. _Wonderful,_ he thought, _everyone is out of bed now._  
  
He felt like a complete idiot.  
  
"Well, you see..." he trailed off, not knowing what to say, but wanting to just say _something_ so he could go back to bed, "Cecile saw--"  
  
"I'm so sorry, everyone!" Cecile interrupted. "I thought I saw someone inside the castle grounds, but...but..."  
  
Lucia patted Cecile comfortingly on the shoulder. "Well, maybe it was just a trick of the moonlight. It appears that everyone is safe, so let's just call this one a harmless false alarm." Lucia meant to reassure the young commander of the castle guard, but Cecile looked like she was about to die of shame.  
  
They all wished each other and Hugo goodnight and filed out of the room. Thomas and Cecile exited last. She hung back in the hallway, until the others were out of earshot.  
  
"I didn't mean to wake everybody, Thomas! I'll be better next time, I swear!" She hung her head and shuffled her feet.  
  
Thomas knew he had to be stern with her, but it was so hard to do when she looked like that. He sighed. "It's all right, Cecile...but you really should try not to be so--"  
  
He wanted to say "overeager" or even "gung-ho," but he stopped short when Cecile crumpled in a heap at his feet, unconscious.

~***~

"Cecile? _Cecile!_" Thomas hissed, patting her on the face. But it was no use--she was out cold.  
  
_What in the world am I going to do now?_ After rousing the entire population of the castle for a false alarm just a few minutes before, he didn't dare wake Hugo or anyone else again. But he wasn't sure if he could carry her, heavy armor and all. _Please, Cecile, open your eyes! This is no time to be napping!_  
  
He reconsidered that, and decided it _was_ the perfect time to be asleep. He wished he were himself. Filled with new strength and resolve to take care of Cecile so he could go back to bed, Thomas hefted Cecile's iron-clad body onto his back, her arms hanging limply over his shoulders. He thanked the stars for the elevator, because he would have never made it down the stairs like this. _Now, to get her to bed..._  
  
Where _was_ Cecile's bedroom?  
  
Thomas had no idea, since he had never had occasion to ask Cecile such a question before, and he certainly couldn't ask her now. _Perfect._  
  
With no other options, he dragged Cecile through the basement and out to the ship, back to his own quarters, her spear jabbing him in the ribs the entire way. He let her fall onto the bed, and she flopped down sideways across the mattress. Her helmeted head lolled around upside-down in the space between the bed and the wall. Thomas decided that was good enough for the moment, and collapsed into the nearest chair. _The most deserved night of rest yet, and my bed is occupied._ He let out a long sigh.  
  
He finally had enough energy to get up again and adjust Cecile's position; Thomas figured she'd end up with a very sore neck if he left her the way she was. He crossed the room to the bed, straightened her out, and then tried, unsuccessfully, to pull the covers out from under her. He wasn't about to remove her armor--he went red at the very thought--but he decided to take off her uncomfortable-looking helmet.  
  
He didn't get very far. He pulled upward, one hand on either side of the helmet, but immediately felt another set of hands on top of his, pulling it back down.  
  
"_Thomas!_ What are you _doing_ with my helmet? Leave it _on!_" The threat of losing her helmet had apparently brought Cecile back to full consciousness.  
  
Thomas stammered. "I was just, well, I thought you'd be more comfortable--"  
  
"Huh? Comfortable?" She dropped her arms--which she had flung up protectively in case Thomas tried to take her helmet again--and looked around. "Thomas' room...what am I doing _here_?"  
  
She gasped and jumped off the bed. "I'm supposed to be _on guard!_"  
  
"Cecile, you just collapsed in the manor! Someone can cover for you tonight! You need to rest!"  
  
"But...but..._no one_ can cover for _me!_ I _need_ to be out there!"  
  
"Come now, you aren't needed out there every single night, are you?"  
  
Silence.  
  
"Cecile?"  
  
"...But what if something _happened_, and I wasn't there?" she cried, indignant. "I promised everyone this place would be safe!"  
  
"You have to take a break sometime," Thomas said calmly, "or your fatigue might make you ineffective out there, guarding the castle."  
  
_Ineffective._ Something occurred to him.  
  
"Cecile," he murmured, "when you saw that shadowy figure, how were you feeling...physically?"  
  
She bit her lip. "Well...kinda..."   
  
"Tired?"  
  
"I-I was just resting my eyes!"  
  
"Er...when _was_ the last time you had a good night's sleep?"  
  
She looked puzzled. "Thomas, you know I'm on guard duty at night."  
  
"What? _Every_ night?" He tried to figure out how that could be possible. "But you're on duty during the day, too!"  
  
Cecile grabbed Thomas by the collar and pulled his face closer, giving him her very best desperate, watery, doe-eyed expression. "So...you think I'm doing a bad job? You're not going to make me resign, are you? Right? Please?"  
  
"That's _not_ what I meant!" he shouted, and quickly remembered to keep his voice down, or risk further wrath from Lady Chris in the morning. "What I mean is," he continued more quietly, "staying awake as much as you do can be very taxing." _And can make a person hallucinate,_ he didn't add.  
  
Her shoulders slumped. "I'm so sorry, Master Thomas. I've failed you as the captain of the guard." She turned to leave the room, adding over her shoulder, "Please don't be mad at me."  
  
"Cecile." He reached out and squeezed her shoulders, in what he hoped was a reassuring way. "Don't be so hard on yourself. It's just that"--he suddenly brightened as he thought of what to say--"the best guard in all Zexen and Grasslands deserves a healthy amount of rest."  
  
When she turned to face him, Thomas could see she was glowing. "Really?! Do...do you really _mean_ it?"  
  
"I hope you don't think the master of this castle would lie."  
  
"NO! No no no! I'd never think that!" The gloom and self-blame was gone from Cecile's face; she was grinning enthusiastically at him, like she always did. But Thomas could still the dark circles under her eyes, and the fatigue on her face.  
  
"I'm glad that's settled, then." He gestured to his bed. "Now go to sleep."  
  
"Wha?" She looked at it uncertainly. "But...my duty..."  
  
"Not another word. Go on, get in bed."  
  
She blushed and let out a giggle. "But this is _your_ bed!"  
  
She had him there. "...Well, I can do without it, just for tonight. Tomorrow, we'll find a bedroom for you. Okay?"  
  
"I'm really not tired..."  
  
"_Cecile._" He tried to look angry. "This is an _order_."  
  
She sighed, defeated. "Okaaaaay." She lay down on the bed, twisted around two or three times, grunted in exasperation, and got back up again. "It's no use. I can't get comfortable." She started for the door. "I guess I'll just have to go back to guard duty..."  
  
"No, you don't." Thomas blocked her path. "You can't get comfortable because of the armor." He tried to keep the color of his face normal as he said, "You'll have to take it off."  
  
"Master Thomas!"  
  
"No arguing," he said, sounding cooler than he felt. He opened a drawer across the room and pulled out a second set of pajamas. "These should fit you okay. Go ahead and change."  
  
There was a long, awkward moment of silence, until Cecile turned beet red and snapped, "Turn around! And _keep your eyes closed!_"  
  
Thomas did as he was told, and waited patiently for Cecile to undress. He heard her junky old armor clunk loudly onto the floor (_Lady Chris is going to have my head..._) and finally heard Cecile say he could open his eyes again.  
  
He barely even recognized her. Under the helmet she had been hiding shoulder-length red-blond hair, which probably would have looked nicer if it weren't so tangled. Cecile frowned at her new, non-metal garments. "This is weird."  
  
"You'll feel better about it in the morning," Thomas said firmly, and prodded her back onto the bed. He pulled the blankets over her, despite her complaints about the treatment and insistence that she was "used to staying up all night."  
  
"That's quite enough, Cecile." He blew out the lamp. "Goodnight."  
  
He had barely settled into his chair when he heard Cecile whispering at him.  
  
"Thomas. _Thomas._"  
  
"Go to sleep."  
  
"But I can't!"  
  
Thomas sighed irritably and lit the lamp again. "Why not?"  
  
"You're making me nervous, sitting there like that." She looked apologetic. "I can't just sleep if you're going to stay awake and stare at me all night."  
  
_'All night'...at this rate, it'll be morning before she goes to sleep, anyway._ Another sigh. "Well then, what do you suggest I do?"  
  
Cecile bit her lip. "Um...go to sleep?"  
  
"Cecile. You're in my bed."  
  
"We can share it!" She said this without the slightest hint of embarrassment.  
  
Thomas, on the other hand, broke into a coughing fit and couldn't stop.  
  
"Thomas! Are you choking? You're choking, aren't you? I'll go get you some water!"  
  
He managed to gasp out "No, I'm fine" before she could stumble out the door. "Don't...go...sleep...bed...gah." He took several large deep breaths.  
  
She realized that he wasn't going to let the issue slide. Cecile decided to respect his wishes; after all, he was rarely so hard-nosed about anything. "Okay, but you have to, too." She gestured at the bed with an unusual air of authority.  
  
Thomas looked at Cecile, then at the bed, then back at her. He decided that he was much too tired to be embarrassed about anything. "Okay." He fell back onto the bed, remembering with a twinge of unease how small it was.  
  
"Good! I'm really not tired, so I'll just be going back to my post..."  
  
He grabbed Cecile's arm and pulled her down next to him. "You aren't going to do _that_ again. It's time for _both_ of us to rest, all right?"  
  
She knew she was beaten. As she sat up to put out the lamp, she turned her head and smiled a little. "Master Thomas...you really care too much."  
  
Thomas was suddenly very grateful for the dark--he would rather not have had Cecile see his face. "Th-that's not true."  
  
"Yes it is." Her back was to him now, but she kept talking. "You make me sleep when I don't really need to..." The yawn in her voice gave away her lie. "You're just too nice, you know."  
  
"Um...thank you, Cecile. I think." Despite how tired he was, how grouchy he would probably be in the morning, and how nervous he was to be sharing his bed with a girl, he was glad to be there. He was glad _she_ was there. Something about Cecile was very comforting.  
  
Thomas wasn't sure, but he was vaguely aware, as his eyelids drooped and his consciousness faded, of Cecile turning over, draping her arm over him and mumbling, "You're welcome."  
  
Somehow, Thomas thought this would be one of the best nights of sleep he'd had in quite a while. He wrapped his own arm around her. "Sweet dreams, Cecile," he murmured sleepily, and drifted off to sleep.

~***~


End file.
